Overwatch 2 devs tease major Sombra nerfs and Doomfist tank buffs

Michael Gwilliam
Doomfist buffs in ow2

It’s been just over a week since Overwatch 2 finally launched and already the developers are hinting at some big balance adjustments in a future update.

While the first-ever Overwatch 2 patch notes dropped on October 13, there weren’t really any nerfs or buffs in them, instead just a slew of much-needed bug fixes.

All that will likely be changing in the next update, however, and the developers have already hinted at what’s in store for some of the game’s heroes, both powerful and weak.

In a developer blog post, the Blizzard devs delved into how they’re planning to balance multiple heroes and why they’re going to be making those changes.

Tank changes are coming to Overwatch 2

In the blog post, the devs pointed out that there are some heroes, such as D.Va, that the community ranks higher than their actual win rate suggests.

“Despite many players saying she’s one of the best tanks in the game, Reinhardt, Sigma, and Zarya actually currently lead up the competition with an average 53% unmirrored win rate,” they explained.

Doomfist as a tank
Doomfist was changed from a DPS to a tank in OW2.

Of those, Zarya could be seeing some nerfs as her ability to apply barriers often can grant her some very high energy and the developers say they could be implementing some changes next season.

The big one, however, is Doomfist, and the devs say they want to further evaluate his overall tanking ability, saying that improvements to Power Block and Meteor Strike could be made.

Overwatch 2 devs hint at Genji and Sombra nerfs

Furthermore, on the DPS side, the devs also suggested changes to the DPS role passive that grants a reload and movement speed buff after getting a kill a way to nerf heroes such as Genji and Sombra.

“We want to ensure her targets have a reasonable time to fight back, so we’ll continue to look to balance her hack ability-lockout duration when we approach Season Two,” they said of the controversial stealth hero. “We’ve also heard feedback that tanks feel oppressed when a Sombra is focusing them with hacks, which will also be something we will look to control next season.”

Sombra activates EMP
The devs hinted at Sombra nerfs in a future patch.

Unfortunately, these comments suggest that we’ll be waiting until Season 2 begins and Season 1 to end before the changes go live, which means we’ll have over a month of the current meta unless they end up being implemented sooner.

As we wait, however, be sure to take advantage of the game’s top meta heroes while you can so you can climb ranked and farm all the n00bs who are playing OW for the first time.

About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam